Fitting out

Hi.
I realize it's been a really really long time since I did anything on here.
Mostly because I forgot the password. And I got busy in Japan.
Now I am back in America. If anyone wants to see more from when I was in Japan, check my picasa gallery or my youtube.
I don't really know what I'm doing right now, on here. I should be finishing my lab report and studying for a mid-term I have in UNI tomorrow, but I just have to get this heavy weight off my chest. Please excuse my incoherent thoughts. I just need to write.

So, ever since I got home from Japan (July 22), life has been well... less than spectacular. There are ups, and there are downs. But mostly downs. Living in Japan, next to Tokyo, in a city, it was amazing. The best experience I've had my entire life. August in America went by with... nothing special. I entered University. To many, it should be a wonderful time of adventure, starting a new chapter in life, a new beginning. I started uni with, less than a blink of the eye and a "meh". To me, starting uni was like, jumping in a puddle. Compared to being sent off to Japan, which was like jumping across an ocean. Literally and figuratively. My biggest problem being back, is dealing with people. Sure I'm okay with classes, I enjoy some, and hate one. I think required freshman courses are a waste of my time and productivity and there is nothing I would like more than to be able to just skip all of them. Waste of brainpower in my opinion. I am in a Japanese 6 class, which is all seniors and grad students who were like, "What is this freshman doing here?" But they are all really nice people, and many have been to Japan and it's fun when our professor lets us share stories and experiences, it makes me happy inside. (Entirely spoken in Japanese by the way). It's funny because, them I can deal with. I can talk to these seniors and 20-something year olds and feel okay and it kind of feels like they're my older siblings. They all get a kick out of it when I call them senpai. And they understand me when I'm having a rotten day because I don't know how to speak to anyone or make friends. And my Japanese professor. From Japan, (Fukokua specifically) Sensei everyone calls her. She is really sweet to me. She even sits me down sometimes and asks if I'm okay. She says she can almost see the question marks spinning around my head as if I were in a cartoon,  perpetually confused is what my face looks like apparently. But, I know this feeling. It is similar. Very similar to the first couple of months in Japan. I had no friends, no bearings, was mostly lost and confused. Similar, but now there is also a difference. There is a huge emptiness this time. What is it that is missing? My first anchor in Japan was my host family, kind, loving, understanding my safe haven from sad days. Here, I have family. And I love them dearly. But, it's not always a happy, stress-free environment. And I've changed. But my family hasn't. Only maybe my brother who over the last year seems to have developed a rigid work ethic and a permanent frown on his face. ...He used to be such a happy kid. Another thing I'm missing. The support group of Exchange students. The group of the most amazing people I've met in my life, selected by rotary and forced to be together not by choice, but by chance. And somehow, in this random bizarre group of mis-matched oddities, we became the tightest family. I compare my exchange family to the saying, "You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family." Because we certainly didn't pick each other. I can remember each and every one of them specifically, everyone's smiles, laughs, accents. And I'm lucky enough to have captured some of these things on camera and video. And sometimes I'll randomly laugh or smile when a random memory of one of them floats through my head. I miss you guys so much. But, back to finding friends here... the search has been, well, less than successful. I've learned that I don't know how to talk to people. Much less approach them. In a new school, I started out with zero friends. It is the end of October and I have.... 2. The 2 I meet on fridays and chat with over lunch a couple hours. The only 2 new numbers in my phone. I met them at the beginning of the year in a freshman camp. And luckily have remained in contact and become friends with now. As for my Japanese 6 class. Most of them are graduating in the spring, or moving or being interns or whatever is it grad-students do. So where does that leave me? I'm not sure. There is also the fact that I commit more social faux-pas than a freshly immigrated immigrant to America does in a year in a day. I regularly screw up my English, forget words, reject proper grammar and sentence structure. I also have to catch myself before I bow subconsciously to everyone at anyone. I wave my hand in front of my nose when saying no, I mumble to myself in Japanese while walking, I swear in Japanese,  and so many people stare at me all the time when I walk by. My guess is the strange foreign clothes that I wear. And it occurred to me, all those movies where there's that strange foreign kid wearing the strange foreign clothes? That's me. I'm that strange foreign kid. It also doesn't help that I always have a small towel, mirror, and hair brush wherever I go. So, I guess what is most bothering me is this constant feeling of loneliness. On the other hand there is the part of me that is very happy I don't have to deal with many people and keep a constant maintenance of social properness. There's also a bit of me who has this weird sense of pride in that I am so strange and badly adapted. It's like, I am really weird. How weird are you? I bet I can out-weird you. I've always loved to stand out be different, but this I mean, come on. Too much to the point that I can't make friends? I have the strangest sense of being. I don't even have myself figured out sometimes. All I know is that there is a very hollow feeling that I constantly have. What does make me happy these days? I dance, it's fun, exercise, organizes my thoughts for the amount of time the song is. I love learning dances. It's a sense of structure. Also, I keep up with my favorite youtubers in the world. Hatfilms from the UK. They're great. I worked for them a bit back in march and april, and I still keep up with them even now. Great guys. They always manage to get me to crack a smile, or give me a laugh even on my worst days. They make the best videos. I may even get to work with them again in the near future, so I really look forward to that. There's those, and yeah, Big Time Rush is still a thing for me. Their show makes me giggle and their music makes me happy. It's all I need to have a good day sometimes. Between those things, I'm usually on the internet, looking for funny things, chatting with people, studying, video editing, or sleeping. Really, it's not that I don't have friends. It rather that my friends aren't here. Sometimes these small happinesses feel superficial though. Which is when I feel really down in the dumps. I knew true happiness when I was in Japan, and I hope I can find it again very soon. What is my life about? For now I guess I have to go through the reverse culture shock slowly, immerse myself in activities, and re-learn how to make friends. Classes will be done sooner than I know and then maybe I can plan my escape. For now, this is all I've got.
So, these are the ramblings of an exchange student going through reverse culture shock. Maybe someone can relate? If anyone does please say so. It will make me feel so much less alone. Also, put your methods of dealing with RCS maybe? I love sharing.

In writing this I do feel much better, but I also have to swallow a bit of my pride, as I do try not to complain much and this journal is just one big sack of pathetic.
Honestly I would write more often but, for me writing is a spur of the moment thing, and most of the time I am just too darn lazy to act on it.

Also, the title, "Fitting out" Is my mix of "Fitting in" and "Standing out" as I'm not quite sure which I am doing at the moment.

A look back at 2011

Here's me sitting in front of my computer at night during winter break trying to upload all my videos from 2011 in Japan and trying to write at least one blog for December.
I'm also sick. Again. I mean wtf.

I know I haven't been very good at keeping up with this blog, or my pictures or videos lately. But I had a good excuse, I didn't want to.
No I'm just kidding, I've been busy. Being an exchange student is like having a double full time job. There are full time jobs, but those don't describe this, because even when you get home, you are still an exchange student. You are an exchange student 24/7, 7 days a week. No breaks, no vacations. You can't just say, I wanna take a break, and then fly home for the weekend like a college student could. No, you must stay in your country all the time, no penalty box.
Anyway, I'm still enjoying it. I have to say my favorite parts are going out with the other exchange students to Karaoke, a restaurant, or just wandering a city. It's fun. And it's the closest thing I get to a break from being an exchange student. Because well, around the other exchange students you can let your guard down. You can relax, be yourself. Especially in a society like Japan, where the nail that sticks out gets hammered down?
So lets talk about these exchange students a bit. I may have mentioned them before, but let's face it. I'm way to lazy to go back and read my past blogs.
There are, 4 Americans (including me), 2 Canadians, 2 Mexicans, 2 Danish, 1 Swede, 1 from Finland, 1 Taiwanese, and a Korean kid, but he never really hangs out with us. And I absolutely adore them all. They are the best people on the face of the earth. Because each of them has such unique personalities. The best part is that when we get together, we can all understand and comfort each other because we are all going through the same thing. And I've said it before, like the old saying goes, you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family. Well, exchange students are like family, you can't pick who you get stuck with for the year. And it's funny because everyone has their own little spot in our strange mis-matched family. Oh I do enjoy their company. I don't know how I will ever live without them when the time comes to go home. I will miss them the most.
And I'm sure, anyone from rotary who might perchance read this if I submit it to the website, they would say, "Oh! You shouldn't be hanging out with other exchange students so much! You should make friends native to the country!" Well, here's the thing about Japan. The people are friendly to you, but when it comes to inviting you to go places, it's like you don't exist. Believe me, I'm trying to make friends. I have plenty of friends in school, and in Kendo club. But outside of school, it's like they don't exist. Also the fact that Japanese kids, are ALWAYS studying ALL THE TIME.
So other exchange students are my way of stress relief.
In other news. I would like to write about how I myself feel I have changed, but to be really detailed I would have to go back and read past journals to point out things, and like I said before, there's no way in hell I'm doing that. I think, the thing that's mostly changed about me is how I react to certain situations, also I curse hell of a lot more, I care less about some issues I used to care so much more about. I have a different sense of humor and laugh at different jokes now. I've become almost a completely different person, but I can't describe it very well. I guess when I go back home people will be able to tell me in detail how I've changed.
There are still some things that have stayed the same with me. I'm still lazy as fuck. Maybe even more so. Nosy people still annoy me, I still won't drink soda, or alcohol. I still think Twilight is the worst shit on the planet, and I refuse to wear the color pink. They say some things never change.
All in all, sometimes I sit and just think, and it always leads up to, who am I? What kind of person have I become? Would my past self be happy, or upset at me. I figure that if still hold those morals of good and know right from wrong, then the rest I don't have to care about. Of course that sounds a bit selfish, and maybe I am sometimes, but I've also discovered I've got a huge heart and want to help so many people in the world when I get back home. I want to do something of impact. And then I also learned I can be a pretty jealous person when it comes to people around me. I blame it on being a Leo.

I realize I didn't write about my experiences or reveal anything of interest in this journal. Too bad. Maybe there will be some stuff in the pictures or video. Well then, my entry for December is done. I have atleast one blog per month, and that is good enough for me.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas, and everyone will have a safe and Happy New Year.
I will be back in January.
At least once.
I promise.

Here's a blog because this wouldn't all fit in a Facebook status.

So I've passed my three month mark on November 14th.
I haven't been homesick, or had any truly bad days since I've been here. I don't know where I am in terms of the exchange cycle.
Anyway, to the point of this journal.

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend, and it wasn't even anything out of the ordinary. Nothing special. Just all the little things that built up to make such a great weekend.

It started on Friday afternoon when my friend back home emailed me the new BTR album, "Elevate". No matter where, when, or anything, they always make me smile and feel happy. I love their music so much. That put me in a good mood for the weekend. Of course I bought the actual CD but it would've taken a long time for my parents to send it by mail.
Saturday I had to get up early for Kendo practice. I'm not fond of early rising and was really dreading this. The bike ride there was cold and windy, and the hardwood floor was very cold too. I don't particularly enjoy warm up. But I ended up having a good practice session. The bike ride home was amazing though, a cool wind, clear sky and BTR on my mp3 player made for a lovely ride. After I got home, I went to have lunch with my mama and sister, we went to a Thai restaurant and I had Pad Thai! I love that stuff! It was soooo good. I enjoyed it very much. We got back home it was still early afternoon, sky clear lovely cool weather. I took a nap with my window open. After I woke up, I danced a little bit, and then had dinner. I don't particularly remember what it was, but it was good. Then I took ofuro, which is a bath, which felt so good especially on cold days. I love ofuro. Then an early bed for an early rise on Sunday.
Sunday I also got up early (as I before mentioned) because I had a Kendo test! The test was for 1-kyu, which is the first test you take when you start Kendo, to get to the next level. Early rise, I know, I didn't enjoy that, but I had an awesome dream that night and woke up ridiculously happy. It was so nice. As soon as I got to the Kendo jo, I was nervous. 50 something girls and 80 something boy were there testing too. Very nerve-wracking. First round I had to put on all my bogu (armour) and use my shinai. We had to to one set of kiri-kaishi, and then had an actual match. You know actual sword fighting. I was so worried I would screw up. After we finished that we had to take off the bogu and use a bokuto to do Kendo forms called, Nihon Kendo Kata, and Bokutō Ni Yoru Kendō Kihon-waza Keiko-hō. So nervous I would make a mistake in one of these steps like I always did in practice. My Kendo sensei was there and my host mama and sister too. According to my sensei, I did every step perfectly. After everything was done, the judges decided who passed and who failed and then put up the numbers of people who passed on the wall. And I passed! I was so happy! What a relief! It was quite an accomplishment too the fact that I have only been practicing Kendo for 2 months, and most people who take this test have practiced much longer. Woo~ Everyone was so proud of me.  After that my mama brought me and my sister to a coffee shop and we had some yummy cake and juice in celebration and it was oh so nice. And I took some pictures of the Christmas decorations that were put out. (Which has started to put me in the Christmas mood.) And then we made a side trip to the store to get fluffy warm slippers since it's cold now, and then we went to the pillow section, and I joked around with my little sister and we laughed and had a jolly good time messing around with the pillows. And my mama actually bought me a new pillow, so now I have another pillow. Ahahaha. It's so fluffy. I will have a good sleep tonight. After that we got home and my brother came out of his room to see what the commotion was about and he and my sister ended up play fighting with his Kendo sword from when he was a little kid in the hallway. The hallway is really skinny with dressers in it so they only had like two feet of room. But it was so funny and I had tears from laughing so much. Dinner was great too, we had Okinomoyaki. Which I didn't really like when I first got to Japan, but for some reason tonight I found it delicious and I had two. Haha, I think I'm turning Japanese I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so. Fits so well here. My host papa came home during dinner from his trip to Canada and congratulated me. And he gave everyone souvenirs, and brought maple syrup. That was funny and we had a good time laughing and being silly during dinner. And it was like we were a big happy family. I was so happy.

That was my weekend. Just goes to show you how if you take time on exchange to appreciate and be happy about the little things, that you will never truly be sad about anything.

Daily life blurb 1

Random blurbs from daily life in Japan.

Got back the results of a test I took on my second day of school. Came in 4th out of 359 students. Like a boss.

Sometimes during lunch some kid gets hold of the PA system in the school and plays JRock the whole time. nbd.

"You must swing your Shinai at a 45 degree ankle so that when you hit your opponent on the head you cut through their skull and their brains flies out." -My Kendo teacher.

The guys in my school enjoy poking me in the back for their amusement.

Beating people with a bamboo stick for 2 & 1/2 hours every day definitely helps with the exchange student frustration.

You see, unlike Florida where it gets cold for a few days and then warms up again, here it gets cold and stays cold. I guess this means it's fall. I was not prepared.

So the only English saying my little sister knows is "Oh my god" but the way she says it, it sounds like: "Oh my gut!"

Once in Japanese history class, my teacher asked me if all the schools in America taught kids that god created humans. I replied with, "No, only religious schools." Then the students laughed and one kid remarked, "What kind of idiots." Then the teacher went on to talk about evolution and how we came from monkeys, and humans are descendants of an ape named "Lucy" and then he started singing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles. After which he drew a foot and an arm on the board and told us that your foot is as long as your forearm. A good amount of guys in my class had to see for themselves. Normal day in Japan. nbd

During the sports festival in school I ran a 100 meter race. Even though I didn't come in 1st, it was pretty cool to hear the entire school cheering for me before, during, and after I ran. Pretty cool. nbd

Out of the ~13 years I lived in CS, on the rare occasion that I walked or biked to and from school, I was always very wary of my surroundings and acted rather paranoid.
Out of the 2 months I've lived in Ageo, I bike to and from school every day, dodge cars and people, and not a single worry crosses my mind, even when I'm coming home from school in the pitch black night.
It's the mindset of the people that create the safe environment. I give the props to Japan.

I'm a 2nd year. One day after Kendo, the captain (2nd year girl) gave me a thorough explanation of how I should treat my Kouhai (younger than me). Apparently I've been treating them too nicely. I don't have to return "konnichiwa's", I can just grunt at them as an answer, and if I bring snacks I don't have to say, "please eat" I'm supposed to say, "Eat it." While they have to be polite as possible to me. Then she made me practice on the first year girls in Kendo. Being Sempai is cool. Why don't we have this system in America? Or the rest of the world?

Exchange Students will probably be the coolest group of people you could ever hang out with.
Find an exchange student near you and be their friend. I promise you, they will be awesome.

It's interesting how it's perfectly okay for rotary to stick you in a hotel room for a night with someone who you've never met in your life, comes from a different country, and speaks a different language, and the only thing you've got in common is that you are exchange students. Sometimes trust take years to build up, between exchange students it's that special bond that makes it instant, even if you've only met the person five hours before.

Once when I was watching TV with my host mom and brother. There was this show on about some guy in the UK who was in jail. When I asked my host mom what he was in jail for, she and my brother struggled to explain it to me for a good few minutes. Then finally she said “Do you know Hamburgler? Like that. Taking things.”

There was a guy in my class straightening another guys hair with a mini straightener during lunch.

Japanese School Vs. American School

Hey there! Long time no see!
I really should keep up with this blog, but you know, exchange life, quite the busy one!
In between not understanding what anyone is saying and experiencing something new almost every second.

So, I've been in school for about 4 days now. Immediately there are things that I noticed are different from school back home. So, today I will be comparing my current Japanese school to American school.
Since most of my friends who read this are from the US, I'll just post Japanese things that are different and you can fill in the differences.
Now before I start, I don't mean to berate American school, I'm simply comparing the two, and what might be better or worse in each.
I'll start at the beginning of the day and progress from there.

• Bowing. At the beginning of every class, and end, we stand up and bow to the teacher. Not done in America. The bowing shows respect and acknowledgment of the teacher.
• In Japan, everyone wears a school uniform. Mandatory. I don't know what happens if you don't wear it. It probably doesn't even cross the mind of the students to not wear the uniform to school. Plus, they're cute uniforms. I like them. Some people may not and claim it stops individuality. Individuality is not very popular in Japan.
• Make up/ piercings/ hair dyes. None of these allowed in Japanese school. No make up, they'll make you remove it right in front of them. Can't have painted nails either. It's okay if you have pierced ears. You just can't wear the earrings to school. Dyed hair is not allowed. Pretty much means to say, school is not a fashion show, you are there to learn, and make friends by yourself. Without the aid of glamour.
• Classroom anatomy. American classrooms usually have a few whiteboards, and those attached desk-chair things, and if you're lucky, windows. Japanese classrooms, chalkboards, separate desks and chairs, you can put things in the desk. hooks on the side of the desk to hang your bag and lunch, openable windows, elevated podium for the teacher, and sliding doors. If you ask me, I love the sliding doors, now I don't have to fear being hit by a door when walking through the hallway.
• Shoes. I have four pairs of shoes I use in school. Walking outside shoes, classroom shoes, Gym shoes, and Track shoes. Can't wear outdoor shoes into the school. As soon as you get in there is a locker room entrance to change your shoes in. And lockers to keep them in.
• Teachers move from class to class. Not the students. So there is no rush and crowd in the hallways to get to your next class. You stay in your homeroom class all day.
• Time between classes. You get 10 minutes between each class. For what? You don't even have to change class. So, nothing in particular. It's break time. Usually kids get up, talk, get things from their locker right outside the class. It's nice. Relaxing.
• Lunchtime. There is no cafeteria. Everyone eats in their homeroom, or goes to another classroom. Desks get moved around and pushed together. Everyone takes out their bento. (Lunch brought from home.) If you don't have obento, you can get something from the many vending machines on the floor. (Remember Japanese vending machines don't just sell sodas and junk food. They sell much more.) Everyone can do as they please during lunch, which is 45 minutes. Can be on your cellphone, or play a video game or mp3 player. Whatever you want. The teacher is not in the classroom. And it isn't extremely loud with all the people talking. They know how to use inside voices. And somehow after lunch is over all the desks are back in perfect rows and there is no garbage anywhere.
• Sleeping in class. It's allowed. In Japan, you're not supposed to interrupt the teacher in the middle of a lecture unless they call on you. You are not allowed to talk to other kids either. So basically, since sleeping doesn't interfere with the lesson, you can do it. It's up to you to take care of whatever lesson you slept through. No excuses.
• At the end of every day for ten minutes, students clean their classrooms. The the hallways and stairways too. There is sweeping, eraser-cleaning, organizing shelves, etc. I think this is a great idea. It teaches responsibility and cleanliness. This way kids don't make a mess during the day, because they'd just have to clean it up anyway. (Me imagining MSD after lunch is over... ew.) This should really be done in American schools.

That's about it for now,  of course I haven't been here that long and these are the most obvious differences, I'm sure there are many more I haven't noticed yet.
Yep.
Until next time.

Bringing this up to date.

Here I am posting some things I wrote about every day since I got here.

8/15/11
So yeah, this house it pretty cool~ It's like a really old fashioned traditional Japanese house.

I have my own room which is nice. Two stories, so many rooms. The staircase is so STEEP. I almost fell, twice. I feel like a ninja using them lol. My siblings names are Taka (boy) and Yuki (girl). They are both so nice. My dad laughs alot, and makes jokes, I can understand some of them and they're not laughing at me which makes me feel better. My mom is so sweet. She knows the most english in the house, but that's like, a really teeny bit. Mostly I've been nodding and smiling and saying "Hai". I'm being so careful though. I'm afraid of doing something wrong. So yep. The next few days will be weird/funny since I can't speak. They ask me stuff in Japanese and I can understand, but like I can't say something back besides, yes or no. 

8/16/11

Today I went with my mom, brother and sister, to a friend's house of theirs. The lady was so nice,

and I saw the most adorable, tiniest puppy I'd ever seen in my life!! I was like. ouo It is sooooo cute! Er... kawaii desu, haha. We stayed at the house for about an hour, then when we went home, the lady gave us the puppy to take home! So I was like, what. From what I understood, we're only keeping it for a few days. And it doesn't have a name yet, they want me to name it. I don't know what lol. Never named a dog before... help. Haha. Yup, then we brought it home and played with it for a bit. It's so cute, it waddles around and is so funny when it walks quickly. It like, bounces. Then we ate dinner, and after I sat with my brother in the tatami room and watched some sort of anime. 

8/17/11

My mom took me to Ueno park, and the museum of art and the international museum of Tokyo. My first train ride in Japan, it was pretty neat. I got one of those cards you just swipe on top of the stall and go in. The trains are like the metro in Canada and France but they seem more advanced. Everybody is so quiet on the train. It's bad manners to to talk on the train, especially to talk on your cellphone. Then we had to stop to switch trains and had like 20 minutes between trains so we stopped at an instant... restaurant. I don't remember what the food was called. My mom was like "this is fast food" but it's way better than any fast food in America lol. When we got to Ueno park we got tickets to two galleries. The first one was Greek stuff, and I have already seen the stuff at the louvre and other museums so i was just kinda meh. The second one was ancient Japanese stuff which was really cool, and alot of it was actually Chinese stuff since that is what people brought to Japan. It was pretty cool. Then we were both tired so we decided to go home. It was so hot. When I got home I went to my room and stood in front of the AC unit. When I was out I was observing all the people and things they were doing and the clothes. All the girls are dressed so cutely. And they all have heels on. lol. Trying to make themselves taller. But there were tons of girls with knee-high socks on which is like, really dumb. Summer's not the best season to do that.

8/20/11

Today I took a 1 hour car ride into Tokyo with my mom, dad, and their friend. We went to this pretty fancy restaurant for lunch for which I was SORELY under dressed. I wish they would've told me. They mostly talked and I listened. I was observing clothes again and noticed there were almost no people wearing jeans in the city. I was and I felt sooooo out of place. I really need to go shopping. After, we went to the Kabuki theater which was really neat. it's like a play, but Japanese-style. It was from 2:30 to like 5:30 so a really long time. Then when it was over, it took us almost 3 hours to get back home. Tokyo in the middle of rush hour is TERRIBLE. I was trying to sleep in the car, but it was a rather bumpy ride so I kept being jerked awake. When we got home, we just got my brother and sister and went out to eat, so I really didn't get home 'til 10-ish. 

8/21/11

I fought with a packet of hi-chew. It wouldn't come out of the wrapper so I shook the packet really hard and it went flying across the room. then my mom brought me to a Japanese spa-place. I got like a face-massage and shoulder massage, it felt really good since my back has been kinda hurting lately. I've never been to a spa before so I can't really compare it to something, but it was nice. That took about 2 hours I think. Was refreshing. Then when we biked back (took bikes since it was close by) It had gotten cooler out because of the cloudiness. The bike ride was really nice in the cooler air. 

8/22/11

We went to play tennis for 2 hours about. We had an instructor who was trying to teach me how to swing better. I told them I'd been playing a long time, but the technique for playing is different here in Japan. Different from what I learned back when I had tennis lessons/ played. So yeah now I know the Japanese way of playing tennis. He made us do some practice hitting and stuff and at the end we played a game. Sorta. I always have the problem of hitting the ball too hard so it goes far. Oh yeah, it was an indoor tennis court. Interesting. That was really tiring.
8/23/11

After I had lunch, My host mom took me to a big shopping center in the next city over, Omiya, and I got some clothes. Japanese clothes. We took the car and the traffic was pretty bad, but I did get some pictures and video. Then on the way back from the shopping center we stopped to pick up my school uniform finally. (I did say before, it's kinda plain but it'll do.) Then we were home for about an hour, my dad came home and then he, my mom and I went to a bicycle shop and they got me a bicycle! It's going to be my main mode of transportation from school and back. Also, Every japanese bicycle has a basket on the front. It's pretty convenient though. So yep, now I have my very own japanese bike. Then we got home and got my brother and sister and grandma, and went out bowling! We played two games. I came in 4th the first game and last in the second game. I really fail at bowling. It's nothing like Wii bowling. After we went to a restaurant and had dinner. It was pretty cool I was actually holding up some conversations with them. I'm really getting along with my sister too, it's nice. Then they were talking to the waitress, about how I am staying here for a year. She was like EHHHHH? And she totally flipped out when the spoke to me in Japanese and I responded. She was impressed. And my host mom was proud. She was like, "oh yeah she's been studying every day." So today was really good for me. I feel like I bonded with my family more and we're becoming closer. It's a good thing. I feel like I'm going to be really sad when i change families. I hope that's not for a long time.

Plus in the car my host mom was asking me when's the best time to visit Florida? That would be so cool if they came to visit next year when I'm home! Ahh that made me happy that she even thought of that.

First night in Japan

Arriving at Narita airport was somewhat of an adventure for me. Challenge accepted. Following the passengers out of the gate wasn’t too difficult. Of course I had to stop in the bathroom and see for myself. Yes the toilets talk to you. Afterwards to customs where I spent a good ten minutes filling out customs and immigration papers. Got through customs pretty quickly. Then I had to get my baggage which also wasn’t too difficult, it’s bright green, you can’t miss it. After that it was a bit tricky finding my way out of baggage claim. At this point I started to worry and hope someone was there to greet me. I walked out the doors and to my happy surprise; there were a bunch of people waiting for me with huge colorful signs. It was a relief to see them. Greetings exchanged, lots of bowing and こんにちは (Konnichiwa) はじめまして (Hajimemashite). It was also a great surprise when one boy started speaking with me in English. He was a Rotex who’d been to America a few years before. We got in the car and headed home. At this point I was dead tired. Exhausted. I hadn’t slept a second on the plane and my eyelids felt like lead. I wanted to stay awake though, so I could watch the scenery but after a half an hour in the car I was knocked out. The car ride took about an hour. When we got to the house, my host Mom was waiting at the front. My first experience with a Genkan. That was fun. The house is a traditional style Japanese house and quite large. We got my suitcases into my room and then went back out to go to a restaurant. My first night in Japan and we went to a Chinese restaurant. There were many people there, my family, and other members of the Ageo Rotary Club. I tried all the food there, including Jellyfish. It was rather crunchy, which I didn’t expect by the looks of it. None of the food was bad, just some tastes I had never, well, tasted before. Everyone introduced themselves to me and were laughing and having a really good time. I was fighting to keep my eyes open. My Rotex sitting next to me was very understanding. Finally we left and went home. Using the toilet here is really difficult. It’s not your average pull trigger to flush toilet like in most of the rest of the world. This toilet is high tech. The cover lifts up by itself, something turns on when you sit on it, and there is a control panel covered with buttons next to it on the wall. It’s not like I haven’t been forewarned about these things either. I’ve seen videos, pictures, heard stories, etc. Not to mention all the captions are in Japanese and I can only read so much. Luckily for me, there is a handle on the toilet just for flushing. These are super-toilets though, seriously. They do everything apart from cleaning the kitchen sink. Anyway, afterwards we celebrated my birthday with some cake and tea. It was really good, but I was full from dinner and at that point all I wanted to do was fall into bed. I really like my family, they are very nice. My mom and brother know some English, limited but okay, I don’t mind. I’m here to learn Japanese, not English. My dad is funny and my little sister is cute. I think we will get along just fine. So now, I finally got to go to bed. I was knocked out in under five minutes. It felt good to sleep. And that is how my first night in Japan went.

Loneliest 14 hours of my life.

Okay so, I made it to Japan in one piece.
This blog is everything I recorded in my little journal while traveling.

8/13/11 8:11AM. FTL Airport
I'm waiting to board my flight to Atlanta. Saying goodbye to my mom and dad and brother was really sad. I didn't cry though. As a matter of fact, I haven't cried at all yet. It's so weird, I think there is really something wrong with me. Incapable of crying. I got through security okay and didn't lose anything. Just saw a plane taking off into the sunrise. There are lots of people speaking French around me? I can understand them. Woo. It's 9PM in Japan, I'll try to sleep on the flight.
12:15PM. Atlanta Airport
Sitting at my new gate in the airport waiting for my Tokyo-Narita connection. Wifi is not free, makes me upset because I really want to talk. Reading a skype convo from the other night instead. Laptop's out on my lap, and I'm smiling like an idiot. There are people next to me speaking Japanese... I understand! Yay!! Still really really want to talk to someone back home. Got a weird combo of feelings going on. I'm excited by my heart is heavy. Hopefully soon I can contact. Watching the Crew 497 Summer Adventure now.
8:30PM EST. Somewhere over Alaska. Been on the plane some 7 hours or so. Haven't slept yet. I'm really tired though. So far I've watched movies: Diary of a Wimpy Kid- Roderick Rules, 2012 (not a good movie to watch at this moment but lol), 13 going on 30, and The Blind Side, watching that in Japanese. Heh. I have an aisle seat and there's a kid in the window seat but no one in the middle, which is nice. Even though I'm watching movies I am SO LONELY. Got a wrap in my hands, was a birthday gift from someone. The crew CD made me tear. Food on the plane is surprisingly good. It's Japanese food. Yum. A song just played in the Blind side that I recognize from my friend Michael's video. Made me tear. Still can't sleep.
10:30PM EST. Bering Sea
Just thought about how it's still light outside here but it's dark already back home. Remembered everyone is at the Bon festival now, watching the candles on the lake and the fireworks... I wish I could be there, with them. I hope they're enjoying the Bon festival, and remembering me. Been think of everyone the whole flight. Listening to Chester See now. Kinda making me even more sad, but his music is so beautiful.
8/14/11
12:50AM EST - 1:50PM Japan
About 3 hours left on the plane. watched The Rescuers. Really tired. Found the BTR album on the Delta system. No TV show though, bummer. I woulda (turbulence) liked to watch them. They always manage to make me smile. Songs'll have to do for now.Worldwide is really appropriate for this situation... Really really tired.
2:45AM EST - 3:45PM Japan
Off coast of Japan, hour away from Tokyo. Listening to Japanese music to try and make me excited. Still no sleep. Loneliest 14 hours ever spent. Don't know what feeling.